


Limits of Devotion

by SabineElectricHeart (TheLifeAndLiesOfFerns)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Cheating, F/M, Magic, Politics, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:40:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29661183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLifeAndLiesOfFerns/pseuds/SabineElectricHeart
Summary: After the Empire is defeated, Byleth faces Hubert one last time.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Hubert von Vestra
Kudos: 9





	Limits of Devotion

Hubert von Vestra is a cruel man. That much is a given for all people living in Fódlan, and many a tale of his dark deeds have spewed from the borders of their homeland towards the neighbouring nations.

He has hurt and killed countless numbers of people, nobles and commoners, kin and strangers. Byleth herself could be counted amongst his victims. There is little, if any, hope for him changing his ways, and so the Church of forgiveness and amnesty had no other choice but to lock him up on a dingy dungeon.

Nevertheless, Hubert von Vestra is still her weakness and she is his. They are each other’s dirty little secret, have been since their time in Garreg Mach together. Thinking about their stolen nights together in the harsh light of the present day makes her sick and she suspects it does him, too. If he even thinks about it at all.

Alas, years have long past since their last tryst and she know it will not happen again, even if she wanted to. After all, she is looking at him laying pathetically behind the cold bars of his prison. He looks absolutely wrecked, but for the first time in a very long time, he also has an almost rested look in his eyes. Acceptance, perhaps?

“You see, Hubert, I used to think, or rather hope, indeed, that the man I saw inside of you when we were younger would eventually emerge. That you would rise above your self-anointed fate.” The green-haired woman tells him, but he does not look up, nor does he respond her observations. “There was a kind soul somewhere deep in she that I wanted so badly to push its way to the surface. I must have certainly failed, as you are here, and here you will remain.”

He still only looks at his hands. It is, indeed, pathetic.

“To think you have laid with me, yet you hate the Church and the goddess so much.” She sneered. “Now, we are indissociable, and you loved me all the same.”

“You deceived me.” He finally speaks.

There is a bitterness in it, a taste of dreams and hopes dashed by her own vile wickedness, but it does not bother her.

“I cannot lie about what I do not know, Hubert.” Byleth responded coldly. “In any case, my father is Jeralt Eisner and my mother is Sitri. The conditions of my birth are of no consequence to me. It ought not to have mattered to you, either.”

For many Moons, while Byleth was just some mercenary that happened to have a rare Crest, it had not mattered, and the man famed for being cautious and well-informed did not really bother to dig all that deeply to uncover who or what his mysterious professor and bedfellow really was.

“I still remember the look you held on your face when I came back from that black void with a new hair colour, what must have you thought when we figured out what was really keeping me alive all those years.” Byleth smiled with fondness to the memory, what was especially dark given the circumstances. “It was not simple betrayal. There was confusion and hurt, because you cared for me. You respected me, even more than you did your prized Lady Edelgard. A Church monster, unbeknownst to you. How could everything you believed about them be true if I was one?”

He stays quiet again, shifting his eyes to a dark, damp wall. He would never admit to anything. Not even now. She lets out a sad, bitter laugh and wipe her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Despite it all, you kept coming back to me, again and again. When I disappeared, you kept hopefully looking for me.” She points out. “You had it all, Hubert. You were the Imperial Consort, you had the trust and devotion of the very person you dedicated your life towards, and you still stepped outside your marriage, dipped yourself into the filth time and time again. You still betrayed the Empire, in the most egregious form you could possibly get away with.”

It was subtle, but she noticed. How he let the rebellious Black Eagles inconspicuously leave Imperial territory to Garreg Mach when she returned, how he managed to let Dorothea escape when a recon mission went south, how Brigid was always fed and preserved during a conflict that ravaged the homeland, how the forces he led were always a little too weak or vulnerable to accomplish their mission.

Yet, when the time came, Hubert made his choice when defending Enbarr, and it was not her. He made his choice when he allowed Arundel to run amok, he made his choice when he tried to resist capture after defeat. For that, he must be punished.

“You can lie and deny my accusations, you can proclaim your undying love and devotion for the departed Edelgard, but we both know the truth.” She put her hands on the bars, leaning in to them. “You care about me. Your devotion _does_ have a limit, and the limit is I. It is your love that makes you the person you are, and not the tool for Edelgard’s megalomaniacal plans you gladly casted yourself as. It is a right shame you never knew how to prioritize.”

He still will look at her and while it is not surprising, it still hurts a bit. She gives him a few moments, in hopes he has the courage to speak, but he ultimately does not. He does not move. Does not speak. So, she bows her head in defeat.

“I really thought you could be a different man.” The new Archbishop whispers, almost confessionally. “You are in for a long stay in here. I hope you can eventually find peace.”

With those words, Byleth steps back from his cell, turning away to leave him and wash her hands of him for good. Perhaps now she, too, could properly move on.


End file.
